When Kat Met Hale, or More Accurately, Stole from Him
by Kit Katz98
Summary: It s all in the title:) Please give it a shot and R and R:)


By December 27, 2009, I`ve been on plenty of jobs, it was simple, get in, get out, without a trace. I was bored, and there were two hours before dinner. Just enough time to check out that big house that didn't fit in on the streets of Moscow, you know, the one i`ve been scoping out and planning to break into for about a month. I walk along the uneven ally fading in and out of the shadows, several gangs walk by, but they don`t bother me, even when I "run into one" . I guess if they knew that I really pick pocketed them, they might be a tad upset. I`m not necessarily worth noticing, I`m only five two and always looked at as young, except for when I`m at the table. I use my looks to my advantage though. _I was three, standing outside of the Buckingham Palace. My father wore a brown trench coat with two missing buttons. He hadn`t had a haircut in a long time so his wavy hair touched his right eyebrow. I had my hair parted to the left, and two pigtails in, with yellow ribbons to match my yellow polka dot dress. My father leaned over me, his eyebrows, raised, " Sweetie, I have a favor to ask. Listen carefully. I want you to scream at the top of your lungs until the guards leave their post. Stall them until I get back okay? " I nod eagerly, when I open my eyes again, my father is gone. "_ I finally reach the street of my target. I stand at the corner observing the house. No one`s home. It looks very odd standing between to dusty brown brick houses. It`s almost Victorian. In Russia, Victorian houses just simply are not. It has a fresh coat of paint, and a red door screaming, "Keep Out!" Of course I didn`t listen _It takes about 3 minutes and .6 seconds, but finally, a guard marches over to me, and clamps a hand over my mouth. Well, I think, so much for patience. I bite down hard and notice that the man`s hand is bleeding. He looks down at it in shock and passes out. He does not belong in the field, I think to myself. The other scrambles over and tries to consol me, he picks me up and tries to cradle me in his arms like a baby, I kick and scream and kick him in a very tender spot. He drops me and I land on my feet swiftly, not bad for a three year old. I look over him and wave. My father runs up behind a bush and says, "Katarina! There you are! Don't ever run away from me like that again." Even my father, one of the best thieves in the world can barely hide the smile growing behind his lips. _

"_That one`s a keeper," says the guard on the ground, "I know," says my dad. The guard didn`t notice that my father`s trench coat, was inside out. He walks me to the nearest ice cream, just like he promised. _

I pull a pair of my gloves from my pocket and walk up to the vines that grow on the north-west corner of the house. I throw a rock from the ground up to the camera on the roof. Rollum 340, not bad. It smashes the lens and I start to climb up to the second story window. I pull myself up on the shingles and put a piece of that gray reflective tape over the whole camera lens so they don't notice its broken. I might want to make a few stops. It`s actually a small house for a person of wealth. It looked about 2,000 sq feet from outside. I carefully use my Swiss card to wedge the screen off the window and I lay it carefully in the gutter. I unscrew the window pane and slip in. I look around the walls. Perfect! There it was. The Monet! I pull the painting carefully off the wall and remove the frame. I roll it up. It`s really a small one, but it will do nicely for a 13th birthday present to myself. I stuff it carefully up my jacket sleeve. In the dark, I bump into something hard and tall. I look up, and see a very surprised, very handsome face. Panic courses though my veins, for the first time, I`ve been caught.

Hale

You could say I was surprised when a beautiful girl, around my age was in my room. Her eyes flash with surprise, but she quickly composes herself. Setting her jaw in a firm line, she says," You`re not supposed to be home." I stumble back, in if it`s possible, in even more shock. "Last time I checked, you`re not supposed to be here either," I try to sound angry, but I can see in the girls eyes that it`s not working.

"Well then I should be going," she says and walks steadily back the way she came from. I reach for her arm, but before I register what`s going on, I am flying in the air, towards the ground. She flipped me! This little 5 foot girl flipped **me!** She continues walking to the window.

"Now wait a minute." To my surprise she turns around scowling. "You expect to walk in **my** house, and bump into **me **and just walk out?"

"No, I expected to **climb** into your house, do my **job** and **climb** out."

"You seem to be emphasizing the wrong points." I joke.

Surprise flashes across her face, and she slides down the wall and puts her head in her hands. I walk over to her, which was probably not smart, this girl seemed pretty lethal. I pulled her hands away and looked at her eyes, no looked **into** them. I felt my stomach flip and I was melting in some gold-ish caramel stuff, and I couldn`t seem to get out. Her eyes were the most beautiful thing I`ve ever seen. But then, she stiffened, and her eyes turned a rock solid gray. But what she didn`t know was, se locked me in, and I was still drowning. I stand up and offer her a hand but she stood up by herself. "What next?" I ask. "Know I leave," She says as if it's the simplest thing, " I never talk to you again." For a moment, she sounds almost regretful, but then again, this girl was about as easy to read as Algebraic Postulates. "Wait, " I say again. "You wanted to steal something. I want to learn how. " I wasn`t sure if it was an excuse or not.

Kat

Then, I said the most honest thing I`ve ever said, "You won`t." My voice stays even. I hop out the window, not bothering to assemble it again. He tries to follow, but realizes, he`s too broad for it. It is only maybe a foot and a half wide. I hear his feet rush down the stairs and open the door. I spin around, and feel my face heat up." Look, " I whisper angrily, but I feel my face soften when I see the way he stands with confidence, but bites his lower lip softly, like he knows how truly dangerous I am. "If you`re going to follow me, be quiet." He smiles sheepishly, and I feel him easily match my paces beside me. My mind is full of excuses to make, but you can`t con the two best spies in the world. Before I know it, we reach the door. At least I still have the painting. I open the door and walk in, throwing the Monet on the table while watching the young man`s eyes go wide with surprise. He knew I wanted to steal something, but he didn`t know I succeeded. I take the knife from my Swiss card and mark a tally on the wall next to thousands of others. "Well, look what the Kat drug in." I hear Hamish say not so quietly. He runs up to me and I can`t help but smile when he picks me up and spins me around. " I thought you guys were in Istanbul!" I yell. "Oh, well Kitty Kat, that one was easy." I hear Angus say from the door frame. I walk over and put him in what could either be a bear hug, or a headlock. Simon looks up from his computer and says "Nice," drawing the word out while looking at the painting infront of him, he closes the lap top and spins the painting so it faces him. My dad clears his throat. I turn towards the boy standing awkwardly in the corner that found great intrest in his Italian leather shoes. I take one look at my Dad`s face along with Uncle Eddie`s. Oh great I think.

"Who`s your friend Katarina?" Uncle Eddie asks.

"Um," I look at the boy, I feel stupid knowing that I didn`t catch even his first name.

"Sam." He says.

"And how did you meet my lovely Katarina?" My dad asks protectively. I can`t help but smirk, he`s looking at it from a father`s standpoint.

"I was the one home when Katarina stole my Monet." I feel 6 pairs of eyes bore into me and my smile disappears instantly replaced by a straight face.

"Kat got caught?!" I hear Simon ask like he couldn`t even fathom it. This, in my opinion is stupid. Trust me, Simon can Fathom more than the professors at Harvard. Being the icredible host that I am grabbed the hot chocolate waiting for me, said," I need a moment." And walked swiftly up stairs to my room, I sit down at my computer and take off my gloves and throw them into trash where you can find at least a pounds worth of pink laytex, from just this month. My mind is working a mile a minute. I open my computer and find the website right where I left it. I scrolled through blue prints and maps until a knock came from my door.

Hale

Saying things down stairs was akward is an understatement. Kat`s dad glared at me like I murdered someone, or even worse, kissed his daughter, and the old guy looked at me like I was from the FBI or something undercover. The British boys came over to me and shook my hands, but looked at me like I was either really dangerous, which trust me, I wasn`t, or really cool, which I can`t deny. Then they seemed to make a silent agreement, that I was both. Not true but hey, let them have their fun. The skinny kid looked at me with confusion, he opened his mouth, and then closed it. He looked like a fish if you asked me. Something told me, that the girl that took me home today, was very, very good, and not used to being caught. I dismiss myself politely, and walk up the stairs without asking. I knock on a door that must be Kat`s since it says Gabrielle and Katarina on it. I see her on what her bed, with a gray computer. She shuts it quickly as soon as I come in. "Let me guess, you stole that too." Despite all that happened, she actually smiled. "Sorry I ratted you out. "

"That's okay, you`re not good. Yet." She says. I feel my eyes go wide. I probably looked like that poor chap downstairs.

"Are you agreeing to train me?"

"Look, it`s not training, its giving you a start, you can`t be trained to steal, you can`t be taught, you just do. There are tips and techniques. But I want you in."

"Why?" I can`t help but be suspicious.

" Look, you can`t con an honest man. "

"And you are assuming I`m honest?"

"Yes."

"You`re wrong." Her eyes stayed still, her breath even, she wasn't mad, not yet anyway. I took a deep breath, "My name is not Sam." I say rather quickly. She looks at me, trying to keep a straight face. She breaks out laughing. "That`s what you are worried about? "

"Kat, Kat…..Kat….KAT!" I try to get her attention between laughs. "I`m a Hale." She smiled knowingly. "I thought you`d be mad."

"No, but it does make it more complicated. Your name is known around the world. " She thinks for a moment. "So W.W. Hale the…" She thinks for a minute and counts on her hand, "fifth, what do I call you, Walter, Warren?"

"Oh you can call me incredibly hot one." I raise my eyebrows and the toughest girl I have ever met blushes. You might be thinking, you met her an hour ago dummy, but it was different. "Call me Hale," I whisper. She grabs my hand and pulls me downstairs. "Everyone, this Hale wants to join the family."

Kat

Of course everyone knew who he was from the very start, my family may be a family of thieves, but we are not the stupid ones you see on TV. Uncle Eddie looked at him with curiosity. Everyone looked at him. My father is very good at what he does, but Uncle Eddie is the oldest, the smartest, the fastest, , the best. It was up to him. " How did you find her?" Is all he asks, the question that has been nagging at the back of my brain. I was not my father, but I was good, I was careful.

"I smelled her perfume, my mom has not been home for months, so it had to be someone else." He says. I feel my heart sink, I felt stupid, I felt weak.

"Will you stick with her, with us through everything?"

"Yes." He said quickly, he didn`t even have to think about it.

"This life is not as glamorous as it seems. Will you stick with us through everything?" He asks again.

He squeezes my hand. He was born rich, his father a business man, but that day, he was born into a different family, one he knows will stick with him forever. He scans the room, his gaze lingers on me, and he looks right into my eyes and says, "Yes."

Hale

At dinner that night, they talked to me like I was always there, always a part of the routine, they talked about an upcoming job at the Prado.

"That`s one of the top ten museums in the world!" I say in awe. Uncle Eddie just nods his head," don't worry, its only 9th." Like that would make a difference.

"How`d you become a part of the family Hale? " Nick asks.

"I just happened to be home when Kat stole my Monet."


End file.
